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This is where the Varsity Club Rush angle is coming to a boil.

AWA All-Star Wrestling on ESPN / TSN for April 11th Larry Zbyszko & Masa Saito vs. Bill Dundee & Shane Douglas Larry Z has suffered some rather embarrassing setbacks of late, but recently seems to be getting back on course by teaming with the Silent Assassin, Masa Saito. Saito’s stern and stoic nature has been acting to keep Larry’s more high strung and loud mouthed tendencies in check, and did them well in this match with the popular veteran Dundee and the fresh-faced rookie Douglas. Dundee and Douglas put up a valiant effort, but when Saito and Larry caught Douglas in their corner and started working over his leg, he just couldn’t make it out to his partner before he finally gave in to a figure four by Larry. It looks like Zbyszko is inching his way back to respectability, but only time will tell how long this lasts. Nord The Barbarian vs. Ken Patera A match of titans, with Nord and Patera blasting each other with big moves and slams. These two threatened to break the ring with their power offense as the momentum of the match swung back and forth. Patera caught Nord in a powerslam in the corner and looked set to put him away with a second turnbuckle kneedrop, but Nord rolled out of the way at the last second. Nord then came back with his own running knee drop and got the one two three, scoring his highest profile victory yet in what many consider to be an upset. Darryl Peterson & Jeff Gaylord vs. Mando & Hector Guerrero Peterson and Gaylord were accompanied by Kevin Sullivan, and appear to be the brutal teacher’s pets of the Varsity Club Rush. Sullivan nodded in approval at every nasty tactic they pulled off against the Guerreros, who fought back with their own series of double teams and short cuts. It looked like it might be all over for the Varsity Club when Mando was setting up Gaylord for the Gori Special, but Peterson charged in and attacked, not Mando, but the ref to prevent the submission. The two sides continued brawling until Sullivan ordered his men from the ring. While the Club lost by DQ, Sullivan congratulated them as though they had won, clearly pleased by their refusal to respect the AWA officials or the rules. Bob Orton vs. Jake Roberts The war between the Snakepit and Piper’s Pit rolls on, with Orton being backed by Roddy Piper while the Snake had Cactus Jack in his corner. The ref certainly had his hands full, trying to keep control over the action both inside the ring and outside of it. Orton brought his considerable expertise to the fore as he dominated much of the match, but the incredible guile of the Snake kept pulling him out of danger. Roddy Piper climbed onto the ringside apron to try to tip the scales in favor of his man, but he found himself tackled to the floor by Cactus Jack. In the ensuing confusion, Orton turned around and walked straight into the DDT by Roberts for the pinfall. After the match, Piper was staring balefully and pointing, not at Roberts, but Cactus, swearing that he would take care of him. Ron Garvin & British Steel vs. Chris Adams & The British Bullies Chris Adams has impressed a lot of people of late, even though he has been working on the wrong side of the fence, with a series of matches where he has gone the distance with a number of singles champions. Adams, though, has indicated his frustration with those matches, and is clearly determined to prove that he is worthy of championship gold. For this match, he brought in his partners in the British Bullies to challenge the Canadian Champion and British Steel. Adams was clearly targeting Garvin, challenging him any time he stepped into the ring and sending his partners out of the ring when the tried to come in for double teams, insisting he would take out Adams on his own. Garvin clearly relished the opportunity to throw down with Adams, and the duel of stiff chops and crushing judo throws had the audience at the edge of their seats. Garvin whipped Adams into the ropes to finish him off with the Hands Of Stone Punch, but Adams ducked at the last second and came back with a Superkick, scoring a shocking pinfall. Adams was jubilant and, after the match, got on the match and challenged Garvin for the Canadian Title in Winnipeg, with Garvin nodding his head to accept the challenge. AWA Southern Title Match : Pat Tanaka © vs. Brian Pillman Pillman has proved himself as one of the standouts of the Varsity Club Rush, having a spectacular series of both singles matches and tag victories, teaming with his good friend Ron Simmons. Simmons was absent from the proceedings, having left early for a Japanese show for which Pillman would soon be leaving, but Pillman was supported (if you could call it that) by the “Games Master” Kevin Sullivan, along with fellow Varsity Club Rush recruits Peterson and Gaylord. The champion was accompanied by his manager, Sunshine, along with her bodyguard, the Great Kabuki. Both sides avoided direct involvement in the match, letting it be solely contested by the champion and challenger in an exciting showdown of Tanaka’s martial arts expertise against Pillman’s cutting edge high flying. The crowd was deeply involved in this hotly contested bout, which seemed like it could end at any second. It looked like Pillman would take his first AWA gold when he had Tanaka lined up for the Air Pillman, but he ended up leaping straight into a spinning roundhouse kick to the jaw. Tanaka fell on him for the cover and was able to get the three count. When Pillman made it back to his feet, Sullivan berated him for the loss, slapping the back of his head. Pillman, having put up with Sullivan’s abuse for months and having just given his all in a very tough match, finally had enough, slapping his face. Sullivan was livid and directed Peterson and Gaylord to attack Pillman, and the two gleefully battered him and set him up for the Execution. Tanaka and Kabuki, swinging his nunchaku, charged in and broke it up, saving Pillman from serious damage. As they helped up Pillman, Sullivan got on the house mic and said that Pillman never had what it takes, and he was now officially cut from the Varsity Club Rush.

And BOOM! goes the dynamite!

I can't see a single match on that which I don't love.

It amazes me your knowledge of each of your venues. What mistake did Sheikh make? Was Detroit a big AWA city or was it NWA or WWF Cobo Hall (more accurately, Cobo Arena) was the primary venue for Big Time Wrestling, the Detroit NWA affiliate. It was a hotbed but basically dried up by the end of the 70s. The story goes that the primary factor in killing off the territory was the Sheikh (who was both promoter and champion) keeping himself on top with a lot of screwjob finishes, plus a lot of no shows. That's why I always make sure to finish off each Detroit card with a match that will send the fans home happy.

I shudder to think what might have blown up in a real life Dr. D vs. Lex Luger match ... looking forward to that one!

AWA show from the Crisler Center, Ann Arbor, April 6th Bill Dundee & Shane Douglas vs. Darryl Peterson & Jeff Gaylord The Varsity Club pinned Douglas after the Execution Tom Zenk vs. Dave Taylor Zenk won with a top rope flying cross body press Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Cactus Jack Bigelow got the win after a slingshot splash in an intense battle Doug Furnas vs. Hector Guerrero Furnas was able to get the win by powering out of a double underhook suplex with a back body drop and bridge The Great Kabuki & Ron Garvin vs. Jerry Blackwell & Ken Patera Kabuki & Garvin won by DQ after Blackwell headbutted the ref The Cobra Corps vs. Playboy After Dark The Cobra Corps were triumphant after White whipped Rose into the Slaughter Cannon by Sarge AWA Southern Title Match : Pat Tanaka © vs. Chris Adams A martial arts duel that went to a 20 minute time limit draw AWA Southern Tag Title Match : Black Irish © vs. British Steel A stiff match that ended with Cameron flattening Smiley with a leaping clothesline to successfully defend their titles Dan Spivey, Mike Rotundo, Ron Simmons & Brian Pillman vs. Buzz Sawyer, Bob Orton & The Sheepherders A long and insane match that went back and forth but finally concluded with Simmons Gorilla Pressing Pillman onto Sawyer to score the victory for the Varsity Club Jake Roberts vs. Roddy Piper Another wild one with both men cheating like bandits throughout and Piper scoring the victory with a cradle with his feet on the ropes.

Another of my little venue quirks is I alway make sure in Cobo Hall, no matter what shenanigans go on in the undercard, the main event will be a competitive match with a clean finish. Never repeat the mistakes of the Sheikh.

AWA show from Cobo Hall, Detroit, April 5th Shane Douglas vs. Leo Burke Douglas won with a running cross body press The Youngbloods vs. Masa Saito & Larry Zbyszko Larry hit an over the shoulder neckbreaker on Wellington for the win Chris Adams vs. Bill Dundee Adams executed the Superkick for the victory British Steel vs. Hector & Mando Guerrero Smiley countered a German Suplex attempt by Mando with a go behind and roll up and scored the pinfall The Great Kabuki vs. Jerry Blackwell Blackwell hit a running splash on the outside and wound up winning by count out AWA Southern Tag Team Title Match : Black Irish © vs. The British Bullies A ferocious battle that ended when Black Irish executed a Spike Piledriver on Jones to defend their titles Roddy Piper vs. Nord The Barbarian A match that featured much of Piper doing everything he could to avoid contact with Nord ended in Piper winning by DQ when he was attacked by Jake Roberts AWA American Title Match : Dan Spivey © vs. Bob Orton In a match where Mike Rotundo ended up blocking Roddy Piper from interfering in the match, Spivey was victorious with the Spivey Bomber

Getting caught up on this, quick correction (doing as I listen, I apologize if this gets noted later in the show) : The Vinnie Vegas vs. Tony Atlas armwrestling match, to the best of my recollection, was not a part of the Jesse The Body tournament. Van Hammer had already won the tournament, but Atlas had challenged him to a match because he had been excluded from the tournament. Hammer was out with an injury, but Vegas (who had been eliminated early on in the tournament) stepped in for the challenge match, as he was left handed and had lost his match using his right hand. Vegas and Atlas arm wrestled left handed and Vegas won, which of course led to ... nothing. But it all occured after the end of the tournament.

Leon White fits in with my approach of trying to start with wrestlers where they were at the time, then do my own take on their evolution to become what they would become. I'm playing the character of Leon White as a big guy with a big heart. In 1986, he was raw, inexperienced and a bit clumsy, but with a lot of power and definite charisma. There was a match IRL where he and Jesse Hernandez took on Rose & Somers, and the heels outsmarted and distracted White while they took out his partner. Right now in my writing, he is making mistakes but earnestly trying to learn from them. Where he goes from there ... stay tuned! When I decided to make Steamboat the World Champion, I knew ultimately that his first big ongoing program would be with Bockwinkel. Ever since the start of the year, everything I have done with Bock has been moving him to be in position for that. This feud is just getting started.

Promoting the Japanese appearances gives a boost to both the JWA shows and the brand of the individual wrestlers, and by extension the AWA. As per my Dirt Sheet articles, Burke is pretty much the head trainer, so part of his duties is to have matches where he puts the rookies through their paces before ultimately putting them over. Once the current crop of rookies gets established, I am hoping to get him in a more focused program with just one newcomer, much like his past program with Regal.

Now that was the way to pay off a mystery partner reveal!

AWA show from the Met Center, Bloomington , April 4th (as shown on ESPN / TSN Super Cards) Rocky Mountain Thunder vs. The Youngbloods White pinned Wellington after a power slam Cactus Jack vs. Buzz Sawyer Cactus was able to catch Buzz with the Russian Legsweep for the victory. Ater the match, the other members of Piper’s Pit attacked Cactus, leading to a clash with the other members of the Snakepit The Sheepherders vs. The Can-Am Express The Sheepherders got the pinfall on Lafon after hitting a double stomach breaker Greg Gagne vs. Ron Simmons Simmons won with a spinebuster slam Darryl Peterson & Jeff Gaylord vs. Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell A knock down, drag out brawl that went to a no contest with the ref getting caught in the crossfire between the two teams Brian Pillman vs. Mando Guerrero Pillman scored the victory with the Air Pillman AWA World Tag Team Title Match : Buddy Rose & Doug Somers © vs. The Razor Boys Diamond caught Somers with a back heel kick that knocked him out of the ring, leading to a win by countout. Playboy After Dark retained the titles. AWA Southern Title Match : Pat Tanaka © vs. Chavo Guerrero Tanaka knocked Chavo out with a roundhouse kick to defend his title. AWA World Title Match : Ricky Steamboat © vs. Nick Bockwinkel A long intense match that ultimately spilled to the outside and ended in a double countout. Both men continued going after each other long after the final bell and they had to be separated by a horde of AWA officials.

AWA All-Star Wrestling on ESPN / TSN for April 4th Ron Simmons & Brian Pillman vs. The Youngbloods Here we have a match featuring a group of wrestlers who will be appearing in Japan this month, with Pillman and the Youngbloods set to wrestle in the Young Lions Showcase and Simmons in a special tag match. Varsity Club bad cop Kevin Sullivan was once again absent from the proceedings, leaving Pillman with the good cops Mike Rotundo and Ron Simmons, both of whom have taken Pillman under their wings of late. Both Wellington and Blackman were very wary of the imposing Simmons , and used their speed and coordination to keep themselves just out of reach of his dangerous power offense. Sensing a change of gear was needed, Simmons tagged in Pillman, and he was able to match the Youngbloods move for move. With Rotundo cheering him on from ringside, and Simmons doing the same from the ring apron, Pillman really got the crowd going with his impressive aerial tactics. It looked like Blackman might just take him out with the bicycle kick, but Pillman was able to catch himself on the ropes, then follow up with a big dropkick to get the advantage. He rushed to the ropes and hit the Air Pillman to get a spectacular victory. Simmons and Rotundo both congratulated their colleague , something you know Kevin Sullivan would not be caught dead doing. Tom Zenk vs. Chavo Guerrero Zenk has been pulling double duty of late, wrestling both in singles and as part of the Can-Am Express, but has been having more success on his own. Contrarily, the Guerreros have struggled a bit of late individually, but have been incredibly tough to beat when defending their Six Man Tag Team Titles. Chavo fought with determination to end that streak, calling on his considerable technical skills as well as cutting some corners on occasion to try to take down Zenk. Zenk showed real fire and kept coming back at Chavo, ultimately catching him coming off the ropes with a Superkick to score the victory. Could big things be on the horizon for Zenk. Rocky Mountain Thunder vs. Darryl Peterson & Jeff Gaylord Rocky Mountain Thunder had Sgt. Slaughter in their corner, while the Varsity Club were joined by Kevin Sullivan. Leon White was keen to get his hands on his former stablemates, but this wound up being a detriment , as the Varsity Club capitalized on his eagerness by drawing him into the ring when he was not the legal man then double teaming Scorpio while he was being ushered out of the ring. They kept this up, getting White progressively hotter under the collar, until they were able to hit the Execution on Scorpio to end the match. Sullivan, for once, seemed pleased by the efforts of his recruits. White was very distressed at having cost his team the match, but Sarge and Scorpio assured him that everything was alright and that they would do better next time. The Great Kabuki vs. Jerry Blackwell These two men have had some ferocious battles of late, and both men tore into each other with incredible intensity. Kabuki would pick Blackwell apart with brutal martial arts kicks and shots, but Blackwell kept roaring back with his incredible size and power. The action spilled out to the ringside area, and Blackwell had Kabuki trapped in the corner and went for a running splash, but the Japanese legend rolled out of the way at the last moment, sending Blackwell dropping hard onto the concrete. Kabuki was able to get back into the ring in time to win by countout. The two men kept going at it for some time after the bell. It looks like the war is showing no sign of stopping soon. Shane Douglas vs. Leo Burke Douglas, a relative newcomer to the AWA, has made a strong impression on the fans, with his mentor Bill Dundee guiding him to some impressive victories. Dundee was in his corner, rallying the crowd behind him as he faced the tough Canadian veteran Burke. Burke gave a very stiff challenge to Douglas in a match that went back and forth. Burke looked like he was taking the advantage over Douglas when he whipped him into the ropes for a back body drop, but Douglas was playing possum and caught Burke with a cradle suplex for the one two three. The younger generation has been rising in the AWA and Douglas continues to be a stand out part of this movement. Ricky Steamboat & Ron Garvin vs. Masa Saito & Larry Zbyszko Garvin had recently made his surprise return the the AWA , taking the Canadian title from Larry Z, and was now making his first appearance on All-Star since his comeback, teaming with the World champion. Larry’s fortunes have waned of late, taking some tough losses including his shockingly quick defeat to Garvin, but actually worked pretty well as a teammate for Saito. With Nick Bockwinkel in their corner, the two functioned incredibly smoothly in tandem as they kept Steamboat in the ring for a long time as they did their best to damage him. Steamboat was ultimately able to dive into his corner and bring in Garvin, who went after Larry and once again caught him coming off the ropes with the Hands Of Stone punch, putting an end to the match in decisive fashion. Although his colleagues had lost the match, Bockwinkel seemed pleased with the results as he led his men back from the ring.

Mind *blown*!!!

Just want to clarify something regarding retirement, given the current situation with Bob Roop (not looking to pick up Roop either way). My understanding was that we had revisited the rules at the end of last year, and while the rules remained that if a wrestler passes away IRL, they are unavailable from that date onward, but if a wrestler retired during a particular year (barring extreme circumstances, such as Magnum TA), they would be available until the end of that year. Is that not still the case, or has that changed? Not looking to argue, just wanting clarification.

Fallen Angel was on my roster, but I let her go to make room for Black Irish. I'm glad she has found a place on your roster.

I was wondering about having the main in Calgary be the defense of the number 3 singles title, but I figured the Stampeders connection and the potential for match quality would be enough of a draw. When I added regular Sunday shows in small markets, the idea was for the rookies to get more experience in matches against each other or trainers, with a sprinkling of super stars to bring in the fans. I've started working in the idea that some of the wrestlers would take advantage of the fact that they were working off the beaten path and would try some experimentation in their matches, have some fun, and maybe get a little crazy. Hence Simmons/Cactus, Piper/Roberts, and the main.

AWA show from the Canada Games Sportsplex, Lethbridge, Alberta, March 30th Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell vs. The Youngbloods The Youngbloods put up a valiant efford but Wellington ultimately was crushed by a Blackwell running splash Falls Count Anywhere Match : Ron Simmons vs. Cactus Jack A crazy match that ended when Simmons caught Jack with a spinebuster slam on the arena floor for the victory Ronnie Garvin & British Steel vs. Playboy After Dark Garvin and Regal took down Burke with the Hands Of Stone Punch / Iron Fist Punch Brian Pillman vs. Mando Guerrero Pillman won with the Air Pillman Masa Saito & Larry Zbyszko vs. The Can-Am Express Saito knocked out Lafon with three Saito Suplexes before locking him in the Scorpion Hold. As Lafon was unable to respond, the ref gave the match to Saito and Larry Z Chris Adams vs. Too Cold Scorpio A long, back and forth match that ended with Adams hitting the Superkick on Scorpio to get the one two three The Razor Boys vs. Chavo & Hector Guerrero The Razor Boys won after executing the Straight Razor on Chavo Jake Roberts vs. Roddy Piper Pure chaos that went two a double DQ when both men would not stop brawling AWA Southern Tag Title Match : Black Irish © vs. The British Bullies Finlay forced Jones to give up to an Indian Deathlock AWA American Title Match : Dan Spivey © vs. Nord The Barbarian A battle of the titans which shook the ring and ended when Spivey was finally able to hit the Spivey Bomber on Nord and successfully defend his title

AWA show from the Saddle Dome, Calgary, March 29th Leo Burke vs. Shane Douglas Douglas won with a belly to belly suplex The Great Kabuki vs. Jerry Blackwell Kabuki hit Blackwell with the Green Mist on the floor and won by countout Greg Gagne vs. Ken Patera Patera won with a shoulder breaker Tom Zenk vs. Larry Zbyszko Zenk hit a Superkick for the victory The Cobra Corps vs. Kevin Sullivan, Dan Spivey & Mike Rotundo All of the members of the Cobra Corps were incredibly over with the fans, but both Spivey and Rotundo got a huge amount of cheers too, while Sullivan was booed ferociously by the crowd any time he stepped in the ring. Slaughter pinned Sullivan after hitting the Slaughter Cannon Cactus Jack vs. Bob Orton A slugfest that Orton won with a Bulldog headlock Buzz Sawyer vs. Bill Dundee Sawyer was setting up Dundee for a Bulldog, but Dundee countered with a small package to get the pinfall AWA Southern Tag Team Title Match : Black Irish © vs. British Steel A very intense match that ended with Black Irish having to execute a Spike Piledriver on Smiley to put him down for good AWA Six Man Tag Team Title Match : The Guerreros © vs. Doug Furnas, Jeff Gaylord & Darryl Peterson Furnas was trying to get Hector in a Canadian Backbreaker, but Hector blocked it and trapped him in the Guerrero Clutch for the victory AWA World Tag Team Title Match : Buddy Rose & Doug Somers © vs. The Youngbloods Blackman had Rose ready for the Bicycle Kick, but Somers ambushed him coming off the ropes with a loaded elbow smash to the back of the head, and Rose followed up with the Inside Out Backbreaker to defend their titles AWA Southern Title Match : Pat Tanaka © vs. Brian Pillman An incredibly exciting match that had the fans on their feet throughout as the former Calgary Stampeder Pillman go the distance to a 30 minute time limit draw with the Southern Champ Tanaka. Both men embraced after the match as the fans roared their approval for the remarkable display of wrestling they just saw.

Danger Zone are rapidly becoming my favorite heel duo. Good to see the AWA trio getting over with the fans even during a loss, cool to see all of them sport the Crimson Mask courtesy of Abby Stabby. Would have loved to see the #1 Tag Contenders match. Very Tall Machine must be crazy strong to get Blackwell in an Underhook Suplex. Some classic heeling from Power Rush. Bigelow vs. Tenryu brought the card to a glorious hold.

That's the idea

AWA show from the Winnipeg Arena, Winnipeg, March 28th (as shown on ESPN / TSN Super Cards) Chavo Guerrero vs. Doug Furnas Chavo was going for a running cross body press, but Furnas caught him and countered with a power slam for the win The Sheepherders vs. Shane Douglas & Bill Dundee The Sheepherders pinned Douglas after a double running kneedrop Mando Guerrero vs. Ron Simmons Simmons won with a spinebuster slam Ken Patera vs. Phil Lafon Patera made Lafon give up to the Spinning Lifting Full Nelson Jake Roberts & Cactus Jack vs. Roddy Piper & Bob Orton Piper and Orton got the victory after hitting a Spike Piledriver on Cactus Hector Guerrero vs. Tom Zenk Zenk caught Hector in a top rope flying cross body press for the victory AWA Southern Tag Team Title Match : Black Irish © vs. Rocky Mountain Thunder Scorpio was going for a top rope dropkick, but Buddy Rose interfered by knocking him off the top rope to the floor and Black Irish won by countout AWA Canadian Title Match : Larry Zbyszko © vs. ? Larry came out with Nick Bockwinkel in his corner and claimed that he was ready for any opponent. Then the crowd erupted when Ronnie Garvin, making his return to the AWA, came out to make his challenge. Larry immediately got on the mic and claimed that it wasn’t fair and that he hadn’t had time to prepare. Regardless, the moment the bell rang, he went right after Ronnie and whipped him into the ropes, going for a lariat. Ronnie ducked under it with ease, then came back and nailed him with the Hands Of Stone Punch. One … two … THREE! Just like that, Larry Z’s title reign had ended and Ronnie Garvin was the new Canadian champ! Bockwinkel gave what now seems to be a permanent smirk as he took Larry from the ring. NWA World Title Match : Rick Martel © vs. Chris Adams Adams had gone to the time limit in recent American and AWA World title matches, and wound up going 3 for 3 in an exhausting technical showdown with the NWA Champ. Both men were working hard to get the other to submit all the way up to the 30 minute time limit. Martel raised Adams’ arm as a show of respect, but Adams was clearly frustrated at having gone the distance once again and still not coming out the victor. AWA World Title Cage Match : Ricky Steamboat © vs. Masa Saito Once again , Nick Bockwinkel was in Saito’s corner, observing. Saito really put the champion through the wringer in this one, with both men getting bloodied, but Steamboat just kept firing back. Saito was going for a Saito suplex, but Steamboat blocked it and reversed into his own belly to back suplex and was able to get the pinfall. Bockwinkel helped Saito from the ring but still gave a cocky grin and pointed at Steamboat as he left.